The Drop: Week of November 19th 2012 New Releases

On PS3 and as a Cross-Buy title on PS Vita this week, PlayStation All-stars Battle Royale is a brawler on the PS3 like nothing that has come before it. From Kratos to Sly Cooper, Sweet Tooth to PaRappa the Rapper, PlayStation characters from all over the gaming spectrum are brought together in a fighting adventure that’s both easy to play, and hard to master. The game plays out across static and interactive Sony themed environments, and features local multiplayer support as well as the ability to take the battle online for competitive multiplayer action.

On PS Vita and on PSN as a digital download, with an overall Metacritic score of 90 and a multitude of “Editor’s Choice” and “Best Of” awards, Persona 4 stands as one of the finest games ever made, delivering many dozens of hours of enthralling storytelling, immensely satisfying combat, intricate party management, and addicting Persona collection and customization. Now, Persona 4 Golden for the PS Vita offers an enhanced and expanded portable version of the highly acclaimed original!

Enjoy this week The Drop.

PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale

(Also on PS Vita/PSN Download) — PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is free-for-all brawler showcasing the best and brightest of PlayStation’s characters and worlds. From Kratos to Sly Cooper, Sweet Tooth to Parappa the Rapper, Sony characters from all over the gaming spectrum are brought together in a fighting adventure that’s both easy to play, and hard to master. Take the battle online for competitive multiplayer action, or go head to head with a group of friends on the couch and prove once and for all who’s really the best!

Hitman: Absolution (Also on PSN) – Hitman: Absolution follows Agent 47, a cold-blooded assassin, who takes on his most dangerous contract to date. Betrayed by those he once trusted — and now hunted by the police — he suddenly finds himself at the center of a dark conspiracy and must embark on a personal journey through a corrupt and twisted world. Boasting a cinematic story, distinctive art direction and highly original game design, Hitman: Absolution combines much-loved classic gameplay with features never seen before in the Hitman franchise.

Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (Also on PSN) – In Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, gamers will play as Mickey Mouse and for the first time ever, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit — Walt Disney’s first cartoon star — in an all-new adventure of creativity and discovery. The game returns Mickey Mouse and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to Wasteland, an alternate world filled with 80 years of forgotten Disney characters and theme park attractions. Now, Mickey and Oswald must join forces as true partners — Mickey with his magical paint brush that wields paint and thinner, and Oswald with his powerful remote control that allows him to command electricity. Unleash the power of creativity in an epic battle to save this magical world of Wasteland and change it forever in this heroic adventure!

Sonic & All-Stars: Racing Transformed (Also on PS VitaUpdate: PS Vita version hits 12/11) – Sonic the Hedgehog and all the rest of SEGA’s great cast of characters hit the road again in this sequel to the hit racing game. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed offers convertible vehicles, brand new characters, and killer All-Stars moves! Following on from the huge success of Sonic & SEGA All-Star’s Racing, the characters now have their own unique transforming vehicles designed to take advantage of the varying terrain. The line-up on the Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed grid sees SEGA favorites — including Sonic the Hedgehog, Dr Eggman and AiAi — return to battle against newcomers that include Gilius Thunderhead of Golden Axe and Vyse of Skies of Arcadia.

Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game – Let your imagination soar in Rise of the Guardians as you play as the all magical, powerful, and immortal Guardians from the DreamWorks Animation film. As North, Bunnymund, Tooth, and Sandman, each player has their own set of upgradable and never-before-seen extraordinary abilities to help you take on the evil spirit “Pitch” and his infectious nightmares. With drop-in-and-out multiplayer for up to four players, cool team attacks, and an arsenal of spellbinding moves, you and your team of Guardians will protect the hopes, beliefs and imaginations of children all over the world!

History’s Legends of War: Patton – In this epic turn-based strategy game you will follow the paths of General Patton during WWII, leading your troops to battle while traversing Western Europe’s devastated land. Gain prestige points and use them to enhance your army, acquiring advanced weapons and gear. Play through four different types of missions: Attack, Defense, Infiltration, and Sabotage. From the French beaches to Belgium, you will have to prove your worth as a member of Patton’s Third Army, and fight for victory!

Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse (Also on PSN) – Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse utilizes the talented voice cast and writers, authentic humor and subversive spirit of the Family Guy series, giving fans a whole new way to interact with their favorite show. The game features a completely original story that sends the guys back through the Multiverse on a mission to stop Bertram. The game also featuers extra challenge levels, multiplayer maps, costumes and unlockable characters as well as a co-op mode.

Persona 4: Golden (PS Vita)

Persona 4 Golden for PlayStation Vita offers an enhanced and expanded portable version of the highly acclaimed original! Visuals have been beautifully remastered to take advantage of the PS Vita’s crisp, vibrant 5″ OLED display. The game’s aural presentation is better than ever, with 1.5 times the voiced dialogue of the original release. A new online dungeon rescue feature allows users to call on other players for assistance when they are about to die in the TV world. Persona 4 Golden is also overflowing with new content: new Personas to collect; new story events along with an all-new character; stunning new anime cutscenes, which include a new opening animation with a new song from master composer Shoji Meguro; a host of fan-suggested tweaks and changes, and much more! Persona 4 Golden is far more than just a handheld version of an all-time classic: it’s the best way to experience it yet!

Jet Set Radio (PS Vita) – The government is attempting to silence the kids of Tokyo, but with their Overdrive Magnetic-Motor Skating Shoes, the cops will have to catch ‘em first. The Jet Set Radio program keeps the kids unified and inspired to fight for their rights of expression, which includes graffiti art. Grab your spray cans and design your own piece on one of the immense walls in the 3D, interactive city. You might be forced to protect your territory from adversaries that want to take over your neighborhood. Join up with like-minded hip individuals that will help you keep your area the way you want it. The cops will be after you too, so you’ll have to be quick. The 10 cartoon-style characters are pumped up with polygons so they come alive in 3D. Uniqueness is key to these kids and each character stands apart with exclusive abilities and style. They like to show off too, and with 18 missions, there’s plenty of time to impress. It’s fast, it’s fun, and it’s definitely funky.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning – An open-world action RPG, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is set in Amalur, a rich and deeply immersive world underpinned by 10,000 years history, created by 22 time New York Times bestselling author, R.A. Salvatore. Immersing players in a rich, living, breathing open-world dripping with magic and rife with danger, underpinned by strong storytelling, Reckoning lets players define their destiny as they engage in intense action combat while exploring the huge, vibrant and varied world of Amalur as envisioned by the visionary creator of Spawn and acclaimed artist, Todd McFarlane.

Designed by open-world RPG legend Ken Rolston, Reckoning offers players unparalleled choice in a world of infinite possibility. Together, the visionaries and development team behind Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning are creating a game that aims to forever change the RPG genre.

Tom Clancy’s Endwar – From 2011 to 2014, the world enjoyed an unprecedented era of peace as enhanced defense technology eliminated the threat of nuclear war. It didn’t last. By 2020, constant depletion of resources has international tensions at a breaking point. One spark will ignite what no one thought could ever happen … a third and final world war. World War III comes to life in Tom Clancy’s EndWar.

Sine Mora (PS3/Vita) – Sine Mora is an innovative shooter which mixes traditional side-scrolling gameplay with unique time manipulation mechanics. Sine Mora takes advantage of the newest in 3D display technology to deliver an horizontal side-scrolling shoot-em-up experience unlike any other thanks to its unique twist on bending time.

F1 Race Stars – F1 Race Stars is a fast-to-the-fun arcade racing game for all ages featuring official FORMULA ONE cars, teams and circuits as they’ve never been seen before. F1 Race Stars will take players on a world tour of iconic FORMULA ONE locations, including Monaco, Silverstone and the new Circuit of Americas in Austin, Texas, recreated as fantastical racing circuits built for speed and wheel-to-wheel competition. Friends and family can share the fun too; F1 RACE STARS will deliver 4-player split-screen racing and 12-player competition alongside an extensive career mode featuring a number of Championships.

Clan of Champions – Clan of Champions is a hardcore multiplayer action game. You will choose from 3 different characters – human, elf, or orc – and take on missions, each of which is different in content and length. You can either play by yourself or with other players in co-op mode, and up to 3 players can play simultaneously online. There is also a 3 vs 3 team battle mode where you can fight with, and against, your friends. There will be a large amount of DLC for additional quests, items, and weapons for the future.

More PSN Downloads

The Walking Dead: Episode 5 – No Time Left

Elminage Original (PSP/PS Vita)

Doom Classic Collection

Demos

DMC (Devil May Cry)

Sine Mora (PS3/PS Vita)

minis

Jetpack Joyride

[Editor’s Note: The following dates are subject to change. Game details are gathered from Press Releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.]

All-Stars is very depressing for me. It’s by far the game I’m most excited for this year, nothing else comes close. That said, the game has pre-order exclusive content and I REALLY wanted to get my first PS3 this upcoming Black Friday. I just don’t have the funds to put toward both, and if I miss out on the pre-order exclusive content just because I wanted to buy a PS3 after waiting 6.5 years for one… well, I may never get the game in backlash.
Will there be any way I can get the pre-order exclusive content in the future? $5 DLC pack? Anything? If I don’t get access to it in the future just because I wanted to make a bigger Playstation purchase, that’s really wrong.
Last thing, if I got the digital copy for my Vita(assuming it’s $36) I’d also want to eventually get the PS3 copy; if I waited and got the PS3 copy along with my shiny new Super Slim I’d get the digital Vita copy as well, but if I got the Vita copy first would I be able to give my PS3 online pass to a friend and play my PS3 disc while he plays the Vita copy? I mean, I’d be purchasing two copies of the game, I’d definitely hope I’d be able to give it to my friend(who is also getting his first PS3 this week). Either way, I wish the details were more clear.

Does the day-one digital downloads open up at midnight or are they available late in the day with the store update? If not then may I suggest that pre-orders should work like they do with steam, they should open up at midnight and what would be really nice is if during the auto update feature it also detects pre-ordered games that released over night and download them so when the user turns their PS3 on in the morning, its right there ready for them. No rely and taken care for them.

@9, supvic- hey, relax! If you don’t like the character redesign, just don’t buy it. There’s no need for all the hatin’.

@10, Clocian-IGN- killer week! 1st attempt to play a Persona game; I’m ready give this popular series a try!

@11, Vince47- agreed, & enjoy the holidays! The store is lagging for me; I think it’s partly due to the store now being an “app.” Too many menus to maneuver before you can find items for purchase; I hope Sony fixes this.

@20, diskdocx- Sine Mora! This title has some stunning art design!

@46, Gokuhan_Z- the Doom series is NOT compatible w/ the Vita.

@49, Enigma2010- it’s Beth’s game. They did tweet about “progress.” But it’s entirely up to Skyrim’s engineers to make announcements, not Sony. Really upset over how more DLC is being released soon & we’re still living in the core game.

great week ! but yikes, All Stars & Walking Dead the same day ?! sheesh – I’ve been on pins & needles for the season finale for WD, & it lands on Day 1 of All Stars …. well, guess I’ll play All Stars & dl WD at night …. fantastic week all the way around. P4, + perks for the Vita, gotta like that …. :-)

On the one hand, it’s great that Persona 4 Golden is going to be out so soon; but on the other hand, it is kind of a shame that, after all of the anticipation, it ends up being released on a week where it still ends up playing second fiddle to another title being made available at the same time.

Hopefully the game won’t get forced under the radar this time around, and gets widely recognised (beyond the cadre of those already committed to buying the game) as the kind of quality ttle the Vita can offer as a mobile gaming platform.

@70, NO! simply boycotting the game changes nothing, the damage has been done, Ninja Theory DGAF about the loyal DMC fans, they just had to ruin it. The only people who don’t care are just kids who don’t know their roots so of course his new look means nothing to them. But for the rest of us, it’s not just about gameplay, it’s the character and story we respect as well as the gameplay.

@49 Someone who worked at Bethesda tweeted they were close to releasing the content, so you be pretty hopeful!
Man I am dying waiting for Playstation All Stars Battle Royale and PS Vita patch 2.0 FTW!!!

Wow, Epic Mickey, Family Guy, and Hitman all on PSN. This is an amazing deal and I believe digital is the future so I’ll definitely be getting one of those games. Great update Sony, though you guys missed Darksiders 2 which you guys announced to be coming to the platform. Hope the list of PSN/Retail games gets bigger.

@34
actually the look was capcom idea. NT went in with concept art that looked like the old school dante but capcom said if they wanted that they would make DMC5 then. People need to get over the look thing already. Its a different universe so get over it.

@supvic: I agree with you. I’ll probably give the demo the benefit of the doubt, but I’m also disappointed in Dante’s new look and origin. Especially after how Vergil’s look wasn’t nearly as revamped (except his personality).

Super excited for PlayStation All-Stars and the DMC demo! Then I’ll get to enjoy PS+ for Vita! What a great week! I’ll be downloading PlayStation All-Stars as soon as its available for my Vita and PS3!

This is a great week. Everytime I come here it seems like no one is ever happy. Complaining about everything. I’am happy with sony,but the only thing that needs to change is the store needs to go back to the way is was. They made it just like an app. But great games this week good work sony.

I think the Sega Racing game being pushed for Vita means that it’ll just be a 3DS port. Which means I don’t care anymore. And since we’ve seen nothing on that version, I wasn’t going to pick it up until I knew anyway.

@52: Odds are that the preorder bonuses will be sold later as DLC. Every LBP preorder bonus was inFamous’ were, and God of War I believe too. ModNation Racers definitely was. Probably more games too that I can’t think of atm.

If they’re not going to be, then they’d explicitely state it. Like they did with the LBP Vita costumes (not the Bioshock ones, the other pack). Even then, it was just the COLOR of them. So they’ll probably release the same costumes, in another color later.

@63: They’re day 1. So they’ll be with the update. Otherwise they’d be midnight launches… and yes Sony should do that. I doubt we’ll get that this generation though. Hopefully they plan for that with the PS4.